An Early Sunday Morning In Uchiura
by Roxius
Summary: A complete overhaul to the original one-shot, now a tetralogy of four loosely connected drabbles of various pairings. On an early Sunday morning, Mari and Yoshiko go out to perform a satanic ritual, Chika and Kanan take a run, Hanamaru studies for a test with Dia, and You rouses awake in Ruby's bedroom. YoshiMari, ChiKanan, DiaMaru, YouRuby. Yuri, shoujo ai. Please Read and Review!
1. YoshiMari

Mari Ohara yawned into her fist. As the half-asleep blonde lazily smacked her lips, trying to rub the sleep from her eyes, Yoshiko Tsushima, or Yohane as she called herself right now, pranced forward with a surprising amount of vigor for it being first thing in the morning. She had a sack of various items strewn over her back. Candles, chalk, a portable camera, strips of black cloth, a fake halo, fake angel wing accessories, and various books filled with 'incantations' meant to summon demons as well as providing instructions on how to draw the summoning circles themselves. It was a Sunday, so there was no need to worry about missing either school or idol club practice. Yohane had appeared on Mari's front doorstep looking as excitable as ever, and Mari, not wanting to disappoint someone wearing such a cute look on their face, agreed to go with her on her little venture. However, despite having spent over twenty minutes walking aimlessly through town together, Mari only just now realized that she had no idea WHAT they were doing in the first place.

"So what are we doing out here, Yoshi? Er, I mean, Yohane?" Mari asked.

"Eh? Didn't I tell you already, Mari?" Yoshiko whipped around to stare at the older woman.

Mari paused and thought about it. Now that she was waking up, her mind starting to clear and her composure reconstructing itself, she found that she could not recall that particular piece of information. "Oh, um, I guess I forgot?"

"We are going on a very important mission!"

"Oh? Is that what it is?"

"Yes! I, the Fallen Angel Yohane, have finally learned the means of which to regain my lost powers! The tremendous powers of which I had possessed before I had been forcefully expelled to this mortal plane eons ago!"

"Wow." Mari didn't try very hard to sound impressed, but it seemed to do the trick for Yoshiko, who performed a little twirl before striking a pose.

"Indeed! Be ecstatic, little demon, for soon you shall witness greatness beyond the likes of anything you have ever seen!"

Mari wondered what Yoshiko would actually try to do to 'regain her power'. Her silly little Fallen Angel act was a very charming part of her personality, but even Yoshiko herself knew that it was a part of herself that didn't have much basis in genuine reality. She watched as Yoshiko ran up to the nearest stop sign. After whipping her head back and forth several times, looking up and down the length of the road, Yoshiko bent down and began to undo her bag. She stopped, looked over her shoulder at Mari, sprouted a faint blush on her pale cheeks, and then resumed digging in her bag. Mari chuckled. The sun was still in the midst of rising, the air had a biting chill to it, and there weren't many other people out and about at such an early time. It was almost like the town itself belonged to only the two of them.

"Ah-ha! Here we go! These will be the first symbols I shall inscribe into this land, the ones that shall harald the beginning of my powers' return!"

Yoshiko began to draw something on the asphalt with a piece of white chalk. Mari stood far off enough where she couldn't see what it was. When Yoshiko finished scrawling her little doodles, she put the chalk away and resumed walking. She traveled northbound, which meant that they were going to have to climb one of the steeper roads together. Mari followed after Yoshiko, despite having no true obligation to do so. The two of them did not exchange many words for the next few minutes, mostly because they were too spent with trying to breathe while climbing the hill. Yoshiko had one of her 'spell-books' clutched between her hands. Mari was curious to see how this whole trip would end. While some others like Riko, You or Kanan would likely have given up and gone back to bed already, Mari stuck it out. For Yoshiko's sake and a little bit her own too.

"Yes! That's it! The next spot! W-Wait right here, my little demon!"

"Okay, Yohane."

Yoshiko started walking, but then quickly stopped. "Oh, um, are you thirsty at all? I brought some juice boxes with me."

"Maybe later, okay?"

Mari giggled to herself again as she watched Yoshiko's retreating back. She was a sweet girl, even when she was trying to pretend to be some kind of unholy figurehead.

"Mari, are you listening?"

Mari blinked. She hadn't noticed Yoshiko was talking to her at all. "Hmm? Just my name? And without any sort of title? Surely don't you mean something more grandiose like 'hark, my little demon, and heed my words'?"

"I-I just wanted to tell you that I might have chosen the wrong spot. Yohane, as careful and infinitely wise as she is, may have miscalculated."

"Oh, that's pretty cute. Even a Fallen Angel can be wrong now and then."

"Hmph! It was...it was...uh, it was just all part of the plan!"

"Whatever you say, Yohane."

Mari couldn't help but smile to herself, the corners of her lips tugging up higher and higher. She was starting to put the pieces together. This whole thing that Yoshiko was dragging her along for. It was just a guess, but...she liked to think that she had guessed right.

The two of them stopped at several more places around town before they finally retired on a bench, sweaty, tired, and thirsty for some mango juice. The last symbol that Yoshiko had drawn was done in front of the local convenience store. Their walk had taken them quite far into town, putting them near the beach-side. The scent of the ocean was strong in the air, strong enough that Mari could almost taste the salt on her tongue whenever she breathed in. It was still quiet all around them. Yoshiko sipped up the last few droplets of her juice box. The two of them had been doing this walk of theirs for over an hour. Apart from seeing a few morning joggers and some seagulls, the town was mostly dead on an early Sunday. A nice change of pace from the usual excitement.

Mari snickered. She reached out and placed her hand down upon Yoshiko's. The first-year's face began to light up, her cheeks, nose and even ears turning bright red from the blonde's feathery touch. She cast a quick sideways glance at Mari out of her eye's corner. She didn't know what to say in response to such a sudden act of skin on skin contact. At least, Yoshiko Tsushima didn't. Yohane, on the other hand...

"So, um, the ritual has been set in stone. Literally. Now the transformation will soon begin and I will regain everything that had been stripped away from me."

"That should be exciting. I'm surprised you're not jumping up and down with joy."

"I cannot do such a thing until I am perfectly sure that all of the components of the ritual have been set correctly."

"What will happen when you gain your powers back, Yohane? Will you be able to do incredible things?"

Yoshiko struck a pose. "Of course!"

"Like fly? Would you be able to fly?"

"I would be able to fly across the span of this planet in the blink of an eye!"

"Would you be able to fire laser beams from your eyes?"

"I could incinerate even the mightiest of foes with relative ease!"

"Would you be able to make humans obey your every order?"

"Ha! That would require minimal effort!"

Mari took a brief pause. A light-bulb went off in her head. She thought of something fun.

"You wouldn't leave me...and the rest of Aquors...would you?"

Yoshiko gulped. She gulped so loud that Mari could actually hear it. "N...N...No! No! O-Of course not! Yohane has grown particularly fond of you all! I may not be the same as I am right now, as I may become a being beyond human comprehension, but I'll still, I'll still make sure I retain some sort of recognizable form so I could continue being an idol with you all! Y-You're very i-important people to me!"

"Even me?" Mari leaned in.

"...Yes. Especially you, my l-little demon."

Mari came in even closer. She spoke in a whisper. "Ah, you called me little demon again. So I really am your little demon? Tell me, am I Mari or am I your little demon?"

"You're my...little demon..." shivered Yoshiko. She was trying so hard to keep up the pretense.

"A little demon, if they are to see their master regain their formerly lost powers, deserves to be rewarded properly for their efforts, aren't they? I've always been willing to support you however I could, Yohane, even though it might not have seemed like it at first on the outset."

"I guess so...?" Yoshiko could feel Mari's breath blowing on her own face now.

"I'm so happy to know you won't leave us for good, Yohane, but as your little demon, before I witness you take on your ethereal form, I wish to make a request from you while you are in your physical body."

"Ah...M...Mari...ah...you're...you're getting too..." Yoshiko couldn't take it anymore. She felt like she had grown so hot that she could pass out from heat stroke. She grabbed Mari by her shoulder and, ever so lightly, pushed her back. "You're getting too close!"

"Ha ha ha ha!" Mari burst out laughing.

"What are you doing?" Yoshiko shrieked.

"It was joke! Just joke! I was making joke!" Mari continued to guffaw. "Oh, you should have seen your face, Yoshi! I didn't mean to scare you, but it was just so tempting to do it!"

Yoshiko sighed. She didn't know why Mari did these things sometimes. Now she didn't know how she could come out and say what she really wanted to tell her. The whole reason she did this ritual with Mari following her in the first place, there had been a particular outcome she had been bracing herself for. The whole proclamation that she would 'regain her powers' was a farce made up to help her bide her time. She had needed it so she could muster up the bravery to speak her true feelings to the third-year woman. Yoshiko touched her nose, shook her head, and then decided she would try and talk to Mari face to face after all. No time like the present, after all, especially since so much of the past had just been wasted on otherwise meaningless matters. Poor Yoshiko summoned every single ounce of courage that she could drudge up within herself, including the courage of Yohane, and looked to Mari with her heart ablaze.

"Mari, I should probably tell you...when the ritual was completed...I was going to...!"

Mari smashed her lips against Yoshiko's in a deep, powerful kiss. Yoshiko's mouth had been partially open, so she could feel a tongue briefly slip itself inside before pulling out. Her eyes bulged three times as wide, practically popping out of her skull. Mari held onto Yoshiko's right arm by the wrist and put her other hand on Yoshiko's shoulder to keep her steady. They kept their lips locked for several moments. When the kiss finally ended, Yoshiko's head dropped forward, eventually making contact with Mari's chest. Her bosom was both warm and welcoming. Mari giggled; she feared she might have actually broke the mind of the younger woman. She ruffled her hair-bun and kissed her on the head.

"I'm sorry, Yoshi. I hope you don't mind me having been so abrasive just then."

"But...but I was going to tell you...my feelings, Mari..."

"I figured you wanted to do this because you wanted to spend time with me, but you know me, Yoshi. I don't like beating around the bush."

"Ah..." Yoshiko sighed.

"Let's sit here for a while, okay?" Mari offered.

"...Okay..." Yoshiko pressed her face into Mari's chest and mumbled to herself.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No...and I really should have been more honest about all of this..."

"You're lucky that I don't mind going out with you so early in the morning, Yoshi. You're always fun all the time, so I was happy to do it."

"...Thank you, Mari..."

Mari rubbed the back of Yoshiko's head. She knew the younger woman would need a few more minutes to compose herself. That kiss was probably more than she could have handled for the first time, and Mari would take full responsibility for that folly on her part, but it definitely had done something right for the two of them too. It was a kiss that was a long time coming. Surely Yoshiko felt some relief for finally having gotten to this point after tormenting herself over it for so long.

"This little demon might sound selfish, but I think she prefers you as a Fallen Angel rather than anything else."


	2. ChiKanan

"Are you ready, Chika?"

"Yep! I got my water bottle and everything! Say, are you sure I can't bring Shiitake with me this time around?"

"No. I like Shiitake and everything, but, well, I think you and I need to go on this run without any other distractions. I wanted to talk with you about something anyway, Chika."

"Huh?"

"I'll talk about it in a moment. Come on. You got your stretches done?"

"I'm, oof, almost ready! And, um, where are we going this time, Kanan? To the mountains?"

"I think maybe this time we can...uh...oh, how about take a jog around town instead?"

"Around town, eh? Sounds exciting!"

"Well, we're leaving pretty early this morning! There's not going to be anyone around. No cars, no people, nothing. We can go running anywhere we want, clear our heads, get some healthy exercise in!"

"That sounds great! Heh heh, thanks for inviting me again, Kanan!"

"It's no problem! This is a lot of fun for me too, you know. Okay, get ready! You've gotten much better at keeping up with me since you started Aquors, Chika, but you're going to really need to strain those legs of yours to stay on top of me today!"

"Alright! Here we go!"

Chika and Kanan took off running right from the start. Kanan had taught Chika several different ways to pace oneself while running, as well as how to move your arms and legs in a proper way to achieve maximum speed while lowering the chances of slowdown, but sometimes the leader of Aquors had more trouble enacting those lessons than not. Kanan kept a close eye on Chika as they ran. They jogged along the road to the right of Chika's house until they eventually reached the first turn. Kanan led Chika down the next road, but before they could finish it, she took a sudden sharp turn to the right to venture onto another road instead. Chika did her best to keep up after her. All she could hear was her own wheezing breath and the pounding of her heart. Chika reached behind her to grab a water bottle and popped it open to take a quick drink. Kanan eventually came to a stop to catch her breath when they arrived at an impasse. They could go just any which direction available. If they went to the west, they would hit the convenience store in due time. Kanan didn't wish to go that way just yet.

Kanan gulped a great big mouthful of water, breathed out, wiped her lips, and turned to the younger girl. "Chika."

"Y-Yeah, Kanan, what...what is it?" Chika had her hands on her knees, struggling hard to refill her lungs with air again.

"I want to talk to you about something. Is that okay? It's kind of personal."

"W-What's it about, K-Kanan?" A gradually swelling sense of dread began to fill Chika. She had a good idea of what it was that Kanan wanted to ask her about, as much as she wished to not actually be right.

Kanan held her steely gaze on Chika, just to make sure the other woman knew that she wouldn't drop this conversation of a whim. "I want to talk to you about Riko."

Chika shivered.

"Kanan...I..."

"You haven't been acting the same ever since she left to go back to Tokyo again for that new piano recital of hers. There's something different going on between the two of you, isn't there?"

Chika breathed in, breathed out, and bit her lower lip. She felt so very cold all of the sudden.

"I don't know if I can really talk about it. I'm sorry."

"Chika, I'm not going to drop this. I care about you. We've known each other since we were babies. Literally babies! I don't have any siblings of my own, but you're like..." Kanan immediately stopped.

"Huh? Kanan?"

The blue-haired young woman's entire face started to grow hot, burning such a shade of bright red that it could have matched Ruby Kurosawa's hair perfectly. She had just started to say that she thought of Chika like a sister to her, but for no reason, she was compelled to cut herself off short. No, it wasn't done for just no reason, if she really accepted her feelings she would have known that to be true.

Chika's face, her entire body, was drenched in her own sweat. The early-morning sun reflected off of that wet sheen, giving the younger woman an almost ethereal-like glow around her being. Chika had chosen to wear a very thin shirt that morning, even though it was cold, and it revealed more, thanks to the wetness, then it ever should have. Kanan shivered; she stared at Chika so intensely her eyes could have burned a hole through her head.

She had watched Chika grow up since she was barely able to crawl. The two of them had grown a little less close over the past few years, but becoming school idols together had helped repair some of that broken bond. Now that Kanan looked at Chika as she was, she couldn't see her as a little sister anymore. She WANTED to, but she simply couldn't. Chika had grown into a strong, courageous, beautiful young woman and that was a fact that could neither be denied or ignored. Kanan had spent days, weeks, mulling over all of this, and she still failed to make heads or tails out of it. It was like trying to find one's direction out of a winding labyrinth while blindfolded. Feelings of the sort that should never have existed were arising inside Kanan, more so than ever. Why did this have to be? She had no way to say that this was really something like infatuation or not, or just a trick meant to resemble it. Besides, didn't she already have someone she liked? A certain blonde girl with a penchant for jokes and the sweetest laugh ever conceived? Then again, that blonde girl was already...

"Kanan, are you okay? You're acting weird." Chika spoke up suddenly, snapping the other woman out of her thoughts.

Kanan had never been conflicted in so many ways before, but...this wasn't her time to fret over these (possibly) misguided feelings. Chika was the one who needed help, so Chika would thereby receive it.

"S-Sorry. I got a little tongue-tied." Kanan hastily waved off her bizarre 'spasm' just then.

"Um...okay..." Chika didn't quite want to jog anymore.

"Listen, Chika, I need to know what happened with you and Riko. I want to be able to help you. You've been acting loud and all smiles like usual lately, but I can tell that you're forcing it. Before you acted that way without a second thought. It's just the way you naturally are, after all. These last three days, though, there's been something going on. I can tell. I've known you long enough."

"I-It's between me and Riko. No one else needs to get worried over us." Chika shook her head repeatedly.

Kanan's brow wrinkled. "Who told you that?"

"R-Riko did."

"Are you two...having a break-up?"

Chika gulped. She didn't quite know how to say it, or if she really could bring herself to say it at all. Just thinking about it was far too hard for her. It made her very chest ache and her heartstrings coil. She opened her mouth and then shut it, several times, like a fish thrust out of water. Kanan stared and waited for an answer.

"...I don't think we are, but we're kind of taking a break. I guess? That's how Riko put it."

"What do you think it is, Chika?"

"I'm not sure." Chika hung her head.

Kanan sighed. She wanted to take Chika into her arms and hug her tightly. Though her friend could be rather brazen and even a little naive sometimes, she also had a big heart and she was a person who was driven a lot by emotion too. She became a school idol because she admired Muse so much and was inspired by them every step of the way. She had tried to hide her feelings but ultimately broke down in tears over their failure in Tokyo. Anyone would feel similarly, but Chika was someone who was pushed forward or held back quite often based on what her emotions were like at the time. It was no surprise that Chika would be so badly hurt by the thought that her relationship with Riko had to 'take a break'. She had willingly let Riko go to perform piano once before, but this was clearly a different case. There had probably been other issues behind the scenes that only the two women in question knew about. Kanan WANTED to embrace Chika, but she didn't. She was fearful of herself, of what she might do next to the younger woman. If it had only been a year ago, she would have hugged Chika without question. Now, she could only stand there and watch her helplessly ponder over what she had done wrong in her relationship.

Kanan thought to herself that she was such a horrible friend. "Um, I'm sorry for asking you about something so personal, but I needed to get it out of you. I was worried about you."

"Thanks, Kanan."

"Do you want to talk about it some more?"

"I don't know right now."

"Do you...do you still want to go on this run with me?"

Chika looked up and met Kanan's gaze. The blue-haired woman could feel her cheeks begin to betray her feelings as they steadily grew hotter and hotter.

"Of course I do, Kanan! Let's go!"

"R-Right. Let's go already!"

Chika took off running, and in an instant, she had zipped ahead of Kanan already. It seemed that taking those few moments to chat had really helped her gather back her strength again. Kanan followed her and quickly caught up behind her. Kanan reached out. She wanted to take Chika's hand and ask her one last time if she was going to be okay. Yet she didn't want to drive a wedge between them by insisting for her to tell more. Really this whole issue between Chika and Riko was none of her business, Kanan was aware of that, but she could barely help herself. How much longer could this keep going on before they all ended up going crazy?

"Listen, Chika, I understand a lot about you feel. Don't worry."

"You do, Kanan? Do you really?"

"Of course I understand! I understand so well! You don't have to keep it all inside! We're childhood friends, aren't we? You can tell me what you want to tell me! It doesn't have to just be Riko and You!"

"Kanan?"

"I...ah."

Kanan stopped running. The two of them had just begun to turn around the corner at the end of the street. On the other side of the corner was the small convenience store where a set of benches stood. On one of those benches Kanan saw Mari Ohara and Yoshiko Tsushima sharing a deep kiss together. Why they would be out this early on a Sunday morning was completely unknown to Kanan. For a split-second, she wanted to believe that this was just a trick of the eyes, or she was seeing two people who eerily looked similar to their fellow school idols, but no, that was most definitely Mari and Yoshiko. Kanan gulped. She could physically feel her heart breaking in two. The girl she had once loved had moved onto someone new and now the girl she currently loved had no idea she loved her in the first place. Kanan bit down on her lower lip hard enough to nearly break the skin. Chika whipped her head back and forth between the smooching girls, who were totally unaware of them, and the distraught-looking Kanan.

"I understand what it's like, to feel unsure of what's going to happen next. So don't be afraid to let it all out." Kanan said through deep, shuddering breaths.

Chika reached out and took Kanan's hand into her own. She squeezed it tightly.

"I'm sorry, Kanan."

"Don't apologize, Chika. Please."

"Maybe we should, um, run the other way? Huh?"

"Y-Yeah, let's do that. Actually, you know what? Let's head home instead. I think I need to...I need to lie down...for just a little while."

Chika rubbed her thumb against Kanan's wrist as she clutched it.

"I'll go back with you then. I already told my sisters I'd be out for a while and you might need some of my help."

Kanan could not have forced her smile any more than she'd tried. It hurt to smile like that, considering how much she wanted to break down at that moment.

"Okay. Thank you, Chika. Thank you so much."

For everything, Kanan added quietly to herself. Maybe she could figure something out. Maybe the two of them could figure something out together. Really, that was the best that she could hope for at this moment. Kanan felt like she was already on the verge of drowning underneath the waves, but Chika was the one lifeline she could keep grasping onto and gain the slimmest amount of air from that she needed to stay alive.


	3. DiaMaru

Hanamaru Kunikida woke up early that morning, just as she did for every other morning. Whether it was a school day or a weekend, she never had a reason not to get up at the crack of 6 to begin preparing for the day's upcoming activities. Hanamaru stepped out of the shower and returned to her bedroom with her towel still sitting firmly on her head. She glanced out of her bedroom window, which overlooked the street. She thought she saw Chika and Kanan running by, but she didn't get a long enough look before the pair had vanished around the corner. Hanamaru yawned again. She supposed that it had been a trick of the eyes. She couldn't spend much time musing on something like that, though. She woke up early on Sunday for one reason in particular. She had a test to study for.

This was not a test meant for school, however. It was a test given to her personally by the student council president Dia Kurosawa. Hanamaru had been prepping herself since last week to be ready for it. She had tried to ask Ruby to help her, but since she was so busy with You at the time, not to mention Dia eventually approached her sister and strictly forbid her to offer help, Hanamaru had only her own wits to trust. She didn't know if she had ever been quite so determined with a test before. She wasn't poor at studying, she often did well with her schoolwork, but she'd never considered any test as vastly important as this one. This wasn't just her wanting to prove her smarts. This was about proving one's smarts in front of the woman they loved. They'd begun dating in only a few weeks' time so far, but Dia was still hesitant to be too 'lovey-dovey' with her yet. Maybe it had to do with her upbringing, her personal attitude toward relationships or her possible inexperience, but it meant more awkward good-bye hugs than passionate good-bye kisses. Hanamaru so very much wanted to have that 'love-doveyness', like what the other couples in Aquors had. She hoped that acing this test could change that.

Hanamaru breathed out a heavy sigh as she took out her study guide and placed it onto her desk. She looked at the photograph she had hanging on the wall in front of her. It depicted her and Dia smiling in front of a small seaside shack, both of them holding platters of dango. It had been the place where they'd gone for their first date. Ruby was cute, but her sister was truly on a whole different type of beautiful. It really was like night and day, or to be even more apt, rubies and diamonds. Hanamaru gulped, discovering that her throat had gone rather dry all of the sudden. She couldn't let herself get distracted. It was time to get down to business. She had to meet Dia in a few hours to start the test, so she needed to get as much last-minute cramming done as possible.

Hanamaru cracked open her 'textbook', Computers And Smartphones For Dummies, and began to read from where she'd left off.

'I can do this...I can do this...for Dia, I WILL do this!'

However, Hanamaru quickly found herself running into problem after problem. She groaned and grumbled. She tugged at her hair, even slapping her own head at one point because she wanted to retain the information she was absorbing through her eyes, yet her 'dumb little brain' refused to let anything stick. She had never used a computer before and her cellphone was one of the oldest, cheapest models that she could find. She couldn't even type out proper texts of more than two and a half sentences' long. She had never required a computer before as a child, but as present day continued to hurl her further and further into the future, it appeared that the importance of owning one, two or several Internet-connecting devices was becoming a basic necessity. Hanamaru licked her lips, wetting them after noticing that they had become dry. She needed to get the hang of this information, though. To make Dia happy, to prove to both her girlfriend and herself that she was capable, and to learn how to actually use a computer. These were all things she wanted to accomplish by studying this early in the morning.

When the time came, Hanamaru didn't wait around. She grabbed her books and her bag and she dashed right out the door. Before leaving entirely, she stopped briefly to make herself a quick sandwich, grabbing one of her favorite sweetened bread rolls to munch on as well in case she got stressed. Hanamaru arrived at the Kurosawa household in due time. She knew the path to it quite well. It had been a little strange, walking through the city streets so early in the morning where there was no one else around, but it had felt surprisingly refreshing at the same time. Dia was there to answer the door. She had on a lovely white button-down shirt and a black and white polka dot skirt ensemble. Hanamaru wanted to squeal out loud and embrace her, but she held herself back. Instead, she just bowed her head.

"Thank you for allowing me inside, zura."

"Hanamaru, you don't need to act so formal." Dia chuckled.

Hanamaru forced out a grin of her own. She knew that she probably didn't have to be formal at all, yet still she felt like she needed to be anyway. Dating someone who ran the student council was not the easiest of prospects. Again, breaking down those walls of formality was one of the many reasons Hanamaru wished to succeed in today's little test. Dia stepped aside so that the first-year girl could enter the house.

"Is Ruby awake yet?"

"No, not yet. She seems to be sleeping in later today. It works in our favor, as I don't want her to interrupt us."

"O-Oh. I understand, zura."

"We'll take care of things in my room. You can go up there, Hanamaru. I'll grab some snacks and drinks from the kitchen."

"Thank you."

Hanamaru went upstairs, but she stopped to take a quick half-second glance at Dia's retreating back. She was so lovely, with that long, straight black hair of hers. The younger woman sighed out loud. She hoped that this test went well, especially since she had studied so hard for it. She really wanted to make her girlfriend proud.

"Girlfriend...zura..." Hanamaru's whole face began to grow steadily hotter as she let that word mull about inside her head. She smiled to herself. Dating a woman hadn't crossed her mind before she entered high school, and now here she was, going out with the older sister of her best friend. Was this a bad thing? A good thing? Did she cross some sort of boundary or break an unspoken rule by doing this? Dia never showed the sort of close intimacy to her that some of the other couples in their idol group did. There was some love there, but it was still kept at a formal level. That worried the technologically-inept teen too, as had been mentioned before. Hanamaru wondered so many things about her relationship with Dia just about every single day...and yet she didn't REGRET her relationship even the faintest bit. She just wanted to know what was the right thing and what was the wrong thing. Sadly, figuring that out wasn't easy. Even the answers themselves in general weren't going to be clear-cut, that much was obvious too.

Thinking about all of this wasn't doing her any good, though. She needed to be thinking about computers.

When Hanamaru entered, she saw an open laptop sitting on the table in the center of Dia's bedroom. Her eyes narrowed. It was her greatest enemy, her nemesis.

"Are you ready, Hanamaru?" Dia asked behind her, surprising the other girl. She carried in a plate with two cups of water and some fruit slices.

"I...I think so, zura..."

"Then let's begin immediately!"

Hanamaru sat down on her knees in front of her computer. Dia sat beside her. Hanamaru wanted to take another look at Dia to help boost her confidence, but if she did, she'd probably be reprimanded to keep her eyes on her 'test'.

"First things first! I want you to turn on the computer." Dia ordered.

Hanamaru nodded. In the past she didn't know how to turn on a computer before, even once turning it off by accident because she hadn't a clue of the buttons or their purposes. Yet after going through her study materials numerous times, the answer had stitched itself into her memory. She reached out and pressed the power button at the top right, just above the keyboard. The computer sprung to life.

"Great! Now I want you to open the web browser."

This was a bit trickier for her. Hanamaru put two fingers onto the touch-pad that allowed her to control the arrow on the screen. She wasn't used to it, so she accidentally caused the little cursor to fly about erratically for a few seconds. Dia continued to stare quiet and contemplative as her girlfriend attempted to perform the next task. Hanamaru eventually got the cursor where she wanted, over the icon for the web browser, and she clicked twice to open it. Hanamaru breathed out a sigh of great relief. This test was rather intense.

"Okay, Hanamaru. You're doing great. We're going to be going around to some web pages, typing in some stuff, and opening other windows as well. This was only the beginning so far. Don't give up. You're going to get the hang of this. I'll be here to make sure of it."

"Th-Thank you, Dia."

The test continued for over an hour. Dia made Hanamaru perform all sorts of different tasks on the computer, including typing out a whole two paragraphs about what the different buttons on a computer's keyboard can do. Dia, taking this just as seriously as she took everything else in her life, was adamant in making sure that Hanamaru knew all of the basics to operating a computer properly. Hanamaru felt mentally taxed by the end of it all. She wanted to curl up with a book and some hot cocoa and then take a long nap afterward. However, Dia wasn't finished. This test had two parts to it. After the computer test was done, Dia put the laptop aside and presented Hanamaru with a cellphone. It wasn't the Kurosawa girl's cellphone, Hanamaru could tell that much. It was small, sleek and yellow with a sunflower print case. She took it into her hand and stared at it.

"Now I want you to turn on this phone."

"Okay, zura."

As Hanamaru performed tasks on the phone too, her mind began to drift, exhausted as she was by the computer test already. She wondered what Dia had in store for her in the end. She wondered if she would be given a kiss or a hug. Most likely a hug. Hanamaru wanted to talk to Dia about their relationship after this. She wanted to ask her if she had some kind of reservation about them going out. She didn't want to consider that Dia might not like her as much as she liked Dia, but the possibility was still a possibility, as much as Hanamaru hated it being so. She believed that Dia loved her. She really did believe.

After a few more orders, Dia stopped giving them altogether. "Hanamaru."

"Huh?" Hanamaru had been so engrossed with the phone, when she looked up, she didn't notice her eyes were starting to grow wet with tears.

"I want you...I want you to keep that phone. As a gift from me." Dia said to her.

Hanamaru stared at Dia, then at the phone, and back at Dia again. "...Zura?"

"Think of it as a congratulatory gift for passing. You finished the test with flying colors! I'd known you would, which is why I bought you this phone for you to use. I already put in some of the necessary phone numbers for you, including everyone from Aqour's and myself. That phone is also my way of expressing my apologies to you." Dia put on a solemn smile as she said this.

"W-What do you mean, zura? Why do you have to apologize, Dia?"

Dia scratched the back of her head while looking sheepish. "I realized that I've been something of a...poor girlfriend to you since we started dating."

"A poor girlfriend, zura?"

Dia nodded. She bit her lower lip, hung her head, but she still felt like it wasn't enough. She had never been very good at apologizing to others, but she felt like she sorely owed one to the beautiful young woman sitting in front of her right now.

"I want to make you happy and treat you the way you deserve, but I have no experience with relationships, much less one with a woman, a younger woman, who is also the best friend of my baby sister. I was nervous around you...nervous for a long time, because we were no longer friends but something more...and I didn't know the right way to express my feelings. I knew that I was making mistakes and acting too closed off, and I kept telling myself I'd try to open up more, but I just kept doing it over and over until I got myself caught in this awful rut. Worse was that it effected things between us. I could tell that it did so don't tell me it didn't, Hanamaru. I didn't want to say anything until after this test so I could give you this phone in some hopes that you'll forgive me for treating you, frankly, in a way that I felt was very poor. I want to do better for you, Hanamaru. I really do. I...I like you a lot, no, I love you, so I hope you'll give me the chance to try and improve from here on out."

The tears in Hanamaru's eyes came pouring out in full force now. Dia gasped.

"Hanamaru! If you start crying like that, I-I might start crying too...!"

"Dia, you...you're wonderful, zura!" Hanamaru threw herself at the older girl, embraced her, and smashed their lips together in their first true kiss. "I'm so sorry! Dia! Dia! You're not awful, zura! You're not poor, zura! You're wonderful, zura! Zura! Zura! Dia! Zura!"

"Y-You're going on with 'zura' a little too much...!" Dia choked out in between happy sobbing. Hanamaru's hugs were so strong, they were making her sides ache, but she still returned the embrace anyway. She put all of her strength into the hug.

"I don't care, zura!" Hanamaru wailed out in response before kissing Dia again.

"We can't...go too far yet...I'm not ready..."

"I know, zura, neither am I, but...can't we...just kiss a little more? Please, zura?"

"Damn...I don't think I'll ever be able to say no...to that face of yours..."

There was a faint sound of snickering coming from the other side of the wall behind Dia, from Ruby's room, but neither girl heard it, as they were much too engrossed with each other to pay attention to the rest of the world around them.


	4. YouRuby

You Watanabe awoke with a quick start. She had had such an awful, or rather convoluted, dream just then. She had dreamed that she had been a rebel leader, fighting against a tyrannical empire that desired to force all of the citizens to wear nothing but a single type of uniform. Thus they would destroy any sense of individuality that they could have had in their appearances. In a desperate attempt to take down the empire's forces, You had donned the most majestic idol uniform she could tailor, and with it, she intended to dance and sing her way to victory. She had no idea why she'd dreamed such a thing. Probably because she had been talking about idols so much with Ruby Kurosawa last night.

'Ruby...!'

You glanced around the bedroom. There was so much pink everywhere. Pink on the walls, pink on the furniture, pink on the floor. There were posters of Muse and other idol groups. A lot of plushies, more than she could ever think one person would have any need to own. You frowned. This definitely wasn't her own room. That was when, like a flash of light going off in her brain, that You recalled that she had fallen asleep in Ruby's bedroom last night. That answer was made even more obvious when she looked to her side and saw a slumbering red-haired girl beside her, her face half-buried into her pillow. You smiled. She would have reached out and gently brushed some of the hair out of the younger woman's face, but she didn't wish to accidentally awake her. She looked very adorable as she slept. Granted, she looked adorable at just about every waking moment too, but there was nothing wrong with taking a second to observe the way she snoozed so peacefully. Her pigtails were undone, causing her crimson-red hair to go splaying about in every direction. You reached out and gently slipped two of her fingers around those soft, silky locks. She couldn't even begin to recall how the two of them had concluded that they should be in this sort of relationship, or how she had managed to convince someone like Ruby, who was so shy that she could barely speak to a stranger without breaking down in tears, to let her love her in such an intimate way. The two of them had not done anything more than cuddle last night, but that was certainly quite a lot in both of their books. When Ruby had called her and asked her to keep her company so late, You hadn't hesitated at all to sneaking out of her own house, sneaking into the Kurosawa house, and finally sneaking her way underneath Ruby's bedsheets.

She would have done that for Chika and maybe Riko, but she had never been close enough to Ruby to do such a thing for her, not until recently. Things were changing in one hell of a way for both of them. When their friends had begun to develop relationships with one another, the only way that Ruby and You could possibly survive was by forming a relationship themselves. Yet Ruby continually surprised You by just what kind of girl she actually was behind that meek and timid exterior.

"Mm...oh...You...are you awake...?" Ruby mumbled aloud, startling the other girl for just a moment.

You offered a soft chuckle and a cheery smile. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

Ruby smiled back and You, right then and there, wanted to snog her. "No...you didn't wake me at all...I woke up by myself..."

"Aw," You chuckled again. "I almost forgot I fell asleep over here with you. I woke up and thought I was in my own room for a moment there."

"You're so silly, You."

Ruby sat up in bed now. She reached over and pecked You on her cheek. You blushed. Even though she was so young, and so timid, Ruby had apparently been a lot quicker to adapt to the relationship than would have been normally expected. In fact, she was very brave, all things considered. They'd already kissed a few times. You didn't even know how many times Dia and Hanamaru had kissed, nor was it really her business to know. Still, Ruby continually impressed You with her willingness to try new things as their relationship progressed. Was this really the same redhead that had screamed out loud from a simple touch by Chika's hand? She had truly grown since they'd formed their school idol group together. It made You feel very proud, in a way. She returned the peck on Ruby's round little cheek.

"Say, does your sister know that I'm here?"

"I doubt it, since you climbed in through my window so late into the night. She'll be busy with Hanamaru this morning, though, so she won't notice us."

"H-Hanamaru is going to be here too...?"

"Are you worried about something, You?"

You and Ruby had not fully come forth about their relationship yet, unlike Dia and Hanamaru. There were whispers of Yoshiko having had some strong feelings for Mari, but whether those two would ever become a couple was completely up in the air. Nobody knew what was going on with Chika and Riko, or if Kanan had met anyone that she had any strong feelings for. You was worried about drawing attention to her relationship with Ruby. She didn't want to draw unnecessary attention, especially if it might cause complications among the group. Relationships were wonderful, but in a tight-knit group of friends like theirs, it could cause some issues. Plus, You was afraid of how Dia might react if she knew that her baby sister was seeing someone. Ruby didn't question You's choices and she was fine with keeping silent, but that seemed to have been an unspoken agreement more than anything they actually discussed as a couple.

"I just...wouldn't want to bother them...or surprise them by me being here..."

"Hmm, you're right. I don't think my sister would be too happy if she knew that you had slept over here without asking our parents first."

There was much more reasons for You to be worried, but she didn't want to bother the poor girl this early in the morning by ranting and raving about it. You sighed. She reached for her glasses, which she had left on Ruby's nightstand beside her. As she pulled the covers off further, she realized that she felt a little chilly. The reason being, of course, was that her shirt was currently lying in a bundle on the floor. She still had her bra on, but she was completely top-less. You recalled now that that had happened as well at some point in the midst of their cuddling. Ruby caught herself staring at You's chest and, with great haste, turned her head away.

"Maybe we should...get dressed for the day..."

"Y-Yeah, I think we should."

"You...?"

"Huh? What is it, Ruby?"

"Thank you..."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for coming over last night. It really cheered me up a lot. It's...it's really nice having someone who loves you back and everything...it really, truly is. Dia was right." Ruby sighed. She had been so conflicted about everything for a long time. Finding out her sister and her best friend were dating, finding a special person of her own, wondering if she was really good enough, pushing herself to be more and more intimate with that special person, and generally trying to become comfortable with herself. So many big changes, it was a tad overwhelming, but with You there by her side and supporting her every step of the way, she felt like she had truly been able to grow and improve as a person. Improve in ways she never thought she could have otherwise.

"Ruby, are you-?"

"Am I what?"

"...You know what? Never mind."

"What were you going to ask, You?"

"I was going to ask if you were upset about something, but I don't think you are."

Ruby started to smile outright. There was a glazed look of tears in her eyes. "Upset? How could I possibly be upset when I'm just so happy?"

The two of them hugged each other a little more in the silence, reveling within each other's company. Suddenly, right before You could tell Ruby that she did indeed love her back, the two of them suddenly heard a sound come from behind the wall. It made You jump and Ruby let out a muffled squeal into the silver-haired girl's chest. You looked down, saw where Ruby's face was currently buried, and made an even louder sound on her own part. The two of them eventually managed to calm down and listened more closely. They could hear voices. Dia's and Hanamaru's voices, to be exact. They were talking about something, and laughing, and giggling, and possibly smooching too. Ruby and You exchanged a glance and then they began to giggle to themselves.

"Wow, who knew those two were already up to something this early in the morning...?"

"Dia said that she was going to have Hanamaru come over for a test to help her learn how to use a computer, but I'm not surprised things ended up this way."

"Ruby," You pushed herself up against the smaller girl.

"W-What is it...?"

"Do you want to do that too?"

"Eh? I...I don't know if..."

You started to kiss her before she could really say anything in the form of a protest, and after a few moments, Ruby let herself sink into the kiss and began to return it in full force. Their kisses were chaste ones on the lips, the occasional touch of tongue in between, but it was enough to make Ruby feel like she was floating on a cloud. You enjoyed it too. After all of her heartbreak with Chika and having to accept that loss, Ruby had managed to heal that hole in her heart spectacularly. They were still a couple with a lot of growing pains to get through, but they were most definitely a couple through and through.


End file.
